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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1487809" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two, “What Has Transpired”, February 17th, 1020:Cassie arrives in the meditation area where Purge had teleported the group to the previous year.   She lets Alton, Lannon, Luekia, Mark and Timothy out of the bag and they approach the monastery.   Eight monks are guarding the door, Alton commenting to the others “Looks like they’ve heightened security, there were only two last time.”   Cassie wastes no time with conversation, announcing to the guards “We are the Silver Moon Adventurers.  I believe that we are expected.”  They are led through the building and into the large meeting room with the elaborate tapestry depicting the Kralt Lordholding affixed to the wall.   The monk greets each of them by name and thanks them for coming to help.   Lannon notices something odd about an area on a side wall, which just doesn’t look right to his dwarven genes.  Further concentration on the area shows it to be just slightly out-of-phase.   He gets the Lordholder’s attention and gestures.   The monk turns to the wall and says, “These are friends.  You can reveal yourself.”The party watches as a large humanoid form appears beside the wall.  The form stands around 12 feet tall and is the exact same shade and texture as the wall, perfectly camouflaged.  It then steps away from the wall, and the skin tone changes to the rocky hue normally associated with stone giants, this humanoid’s race.   Timothy checks out the creature’s aura, quietly whispering to the others that it is neutral in alignment. Assuming the giant to merely be a bodyguard, the party goes back to ignoring it, and Cassie asks, “So, what has transpired in the last five months?”    The Lordholder replies, “Through a combination of clerical and magical means and interviewing of his captured past associates we have been able to derive a great deal of information about the enemy leader who commanded the great beast that attacked our land.”   Cassie interrupts by asking, “Has the beast returned?”  The monk replies, “No, it appears to have left our world for good.  The enemy leader, however, has remained in Kralt and continues to cause trouble.”“Who exactly is he?” Lannon asks.   The Lordholder replies, “He is a creature known as a hound archon.  It is a member of an immortal race known as the celestials.  Think of a hound archon as an eternal lab-dog to the gods.  “Ah, someone to fetch the cosmic slippers,” Alton quips.   The monk continues, “Yes, and hound archons are all lawful-good in alignment, subservient to the wishes of their lawful good masters.”    This hound archon had been sent to hunt down the evil wizardess Sykless that you fought atop the beast.   “And she found a way to control it?” Cassie asks.The monk replies, “Not exactly.  Are any of you familiar with a magic item known as a ‘Mirror of Opposition’?    Cassie replies, “Vaguely, it creates a type of opposite image doesn’t it?”   He replies, “Yes, with all of the same powers but of the opposite alignment.  And Sykless owned one.  So when the archon came to capture her she used it on him.   This opposite creature was equal in power to the good archon, and with Sykless’s assistance they were able to defeat and destroy the good one.   She and the evil one then formed an evil alliance.   She had the knowledge to capture the extra-plainer beast while he used his form and abilities to convince the gnolls that he was their deity.”Mark comments, “That explains a lot.  We didn’t see any such mirror in the howdahs on the beast.”   The monk replies, “It was probably well hidden, as something that powerful is too dangerous to just leave sitting around.   Given how violently that travelling gnoll city was reduced to rubble it is safe to say that the mirror no longer exists.”   “But the evil archon still does?” Lannon asks.  The monk states, “Yes, and has been spending the last five months raising an army. He has all of the abilities of the original archon, including the ability to plane shift to the Seven Heavens, but since the beings there are opposite his alignment he is wise enough not to.   That therefore leaves him stranded here on our world.   Most of the land of eastern Kralt is wilderness, with few human settlements but lots of small disorganized lairs of humanoid monsters.   It is these that he has been recruiting and organizing.“And you’ve waited until now to call us?” Alton exclaims.    The monk replies, “The Queen has sent two teams to deal with the threat.   The Dragonstalkers have been in the Lordholding since November, being very effective with continuous strikes against the archon’s army using guerilla tactics and thereby driving his forces away from human towns.”  Cassie exclaims, “That group has actually been effective?  That’s new!  That druid must have taken over the team.”   The monk replies, “I concur.  Gellyath remains team leader, but the gnoll druid Dalcom’s quest for vengeance against the archon does appear to now be the driving force for that team.”  “And the other team?”  Luekia asks.    He replies, “On loan to the Queen from your Lord Kindor, known as the ‘Suicide Squad’”.   Alton states, “Oh, those bums.  We captured them when they attacked our Island a while back (Module #98: ‘Retake the Island’).  Kindor’s having them work-off their prison sentence.”   The monk says, “Yes.  Their assigned team leader and head guard is a high-level druid, and he has been coordinating his team's actions with the druid Dalcom on the other team.    They’ve been hitting the enemy with two-pronged assaults.”Lannon asks, “What is the make up of the archon’s army?”    The monk replies, “The celestial has the most influence on animal-based creatures so the majority of his forces are comprised of gnolls and bugbears.   He also has nearly total control on canines, and has drawn together most of the wolves of the Lordholding.  He uses them as his first line of attack and so many wolves have been slain during the past three months that I fear we will have an overpopulation of deer next winter.  Also among his troops a hobgoblin tribe who rides upon giant worg wolves, as the wolves were led to follow the archon and they chose to stay with their mounts.   We have also heard rumors that the archon has attracted several lycanthrope followers of the werewolf and werebear races.”  “He has been busy,” Alton comments.   “How large is his army?” Lannon inquires.   The monk replies, “For the last several months it has numbered between 500 and 700, although that recently changed.   He had continued his ruse of being the gnoll deity Yeenoghu but the deception was found out last month, and two-thirds of his forces then abandoned him.”   “Where are those troops now?” Cassie asks.   The monk replies “They are long gone.  They must have feared retaliation for desertion from his remaining and future forces because they returned to their homes, packed up their families, and then left the Lordholding, disappearing into the mountains of Thenossia.”   “And his remaining troops?” Mark inquires.  “Currently on a major offensive against the Dragonstalkers and Suicide Squad.   The archon however is not with them, having retreated to the safety of his lair.”    “Ah, I get it.  That’s where you want us to strike,” Lannon exclaims.  The monk replies, “Yes, we have just now found details as to the exact location of this lair.”   The stone giant has remained silent until this point but now speaks in a deep baritone voice that resonates throughout the room stating, “He is in my home.  I want him gone from there.”</blockquote>

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